The Checkout Chick
by Draco4Hermione
Summary: Hermione has a summer parttime job at Diagon Alley as a cashout chick before she goes back to Hogwarts for her 7th year. Draco and her encounter in the store. He finds her predicament a good opportunity to annoy her more. But what if his tricks go too far
1. Chapter 1

The Checkout Chick

Chapter One

Hermione hurried down the cobbled path of Diagon Alley as fast as she could without running. Her long mousy brown hair had been straightened with a simple spell. She was wearing a white three quarter sleeved shirt and black trousers. She also wore a red tie lossely around her neck with a name badge pinned on it. This uniform was standard dress code for the female staff of Diagon Alley Grocery Store.

Hermione had applied for a summer job there in the hope of earning some money to put towards further education at the newly opened Hogwarts University for Witches and Wizards. It was expensive and although her parents had offered to pay for it she knew it would be difficult to pay it off. Therefore the new opening for a checkout operator in the Grocery store had become very handy.

She briskly walked through the shop and into the staff room located at the back. She saw her manager sitting down at the lunch table reading the Daily Prophet. Her manager was Madame Gilberta. Madame Gilberta was a cranky old woman who had the patience of a two year old and the looks of a mountain troll. It did not help that she was good friends with Professor Snape.

"You're late." the old woman with grey locks snapped as she turned her neck to see Hermione enter the room.

Hermione nodded, wearing an apologetic look upon her face, "Yes I know I'm so sorry. My mother.." But what her mother did Madame Gilberta did not want to know.

"Once more Miss Granger and you shall find yourself without a job. Get to work!" she cried, her large dark brown eyes glared her up and down before returning to the newspaper.

Hermione sighed and quickly wrote her name and the time she had arrived onto the signing in sheet pinned on a notice board. She then walked out of the lunch room and headed for the front of the store to the checkouts.

"Excuse me, where would I find the chocolate frogs?" asked a young boy with red hair. He reminded Hermione of Ron. She grinned at the boy and said kindly, "I'll show you."

She walked ahead to the isle with the confectionary. They had more chocloates and lollies than Honeydukes. The variety amazed Hermione everytime she walked through it.

She looked around for a minute and finally found what she was looking for. "Aha! Here they are! There you go." Hermione smiled at the boy, pointing at the large stack of chocolate frogs. The boy grinned at her and thanked her.

"You're welcome." Hermione smiled. She needed to get to the register before Madame Gilberta found her. Without looking where she was going she turned and knocked into someone who had been looking at the Bertie Bott section.

They both fell to the ground. Everbody in the isle turned to stare at them. Hermione's face went bright red with embarassment. The confusion of her fall sent her head spinning. "Ouch." she muttered before she picked herself off the ground and turning to help the person she had caused to fall also.

"Watch where you're going!" a familiar voice snapped.

Hermione's heart jumped into her throat. She knew that voice. She knew it. 'Oh please, not here, not here!' she cried internally. She knew when she had taken the job that she would run into a few people that she knew from school, but had not expected to literally 'run into them'.

There on the ground, getting to his feet was none other than Draco Malfoy. His blonde hair hung lossely on his head, but due to his fall a few strands stuck up oddly in the back. He wore pitch black robes rimmed green on his sleeves and his neckline. He even had a tiny silver snake which hung from his left earlobe. This snake was duplicated but in a larger size as a pendant on a silver chain which hung around his neck. Although the whole 'Slytherin theme' was slightly over done Hermione admitted that it did suit him.

He gazed up at her with large ocean blue eyes with shock then disgust. Hermione smirked, "So sorry." He got up. Hermione took a step back. He stood taller than her. Ron and Harry were taller than her too but somehow when he stood in front of her she felt as though she was being looked down on.

He gave her a loathing look before looking down to her name tag, "Work here do you mudblood?" he hissed.

Hermione shrugged, "Yeah you know, holiday job." she just knew he was going to take insult her. Something about being poor or being a slave. His mouth twitched. Hermione glared at him, "You know you want to say it. Well go on do it. I'm a poor little mudblood who has to work to get money. Go on! I don't care. I just know that the money I earn is not dirty."

Malfoy gave her a dirty look, "Dirty? You're saying my money is dirty? How dare you, you little..." But what exactly she was she never found out.

"Miss Granger!" a voice that sounded oddly like Madame Gilberta's resounded behind her. Cringing, Hermione began to speak as she turned, "I was just helping a customer, I didn't..." but she stopped mid-sentence as she reaslised who was really addressing her.

"Dan! You scared me!" Hermione laughed, jumping on him to give him a hug and a slap on the shoulder. Dan was a handsome young man of seventeen, the same age as Hermione...and Malfoy for that matter. He had curly brown hair which did not need to be fixed to look perfect. He also had hazel eyes and the cutest smile in Hermione's opinion. He wore a short sleeved white shirt and black pants. He also wore a red tie except his was pulled up as was required. He too was a service cashier.

Draco's heart sunk when he saw how Granger regarded the man she called, Dan. He did not know why his heart tugged at him. After all why should he care if she had a thing for this guy. 'Goodluck to her as far as I'm concerned.' Draco thought, thinking nothing more.

"Sorry, I couldn't pass up the chance. Although if you don't hurry up Madame I-have-more-than-one-stick-up-my-arse will catch ya." he let her go giving her a wink before looking past her to Draco.

"So who's your friend?" Dan asked, glancing at Draco as if he was measuring up what sort of character he was.

Hermione turned, the smile slipped off her face. She gave Malfoy a sad almost disappointing look as their eyes met. 'She feels sorry for me.' Malfoy's mind stated to him. This thought struck him as odd. 'Sorry? Why on earth would she feel sorry for me? Or maybe she's sorry that she hit me? Or sorry that she had to even see me?' He could not figure out which one it was so just gave her a blank expression.

"His name is Draco Malfoy and he is no friend of mine." she said in a matter-of-fact way as she turned back to Dan, "Come on we have to get back to work. The others will be working flat out." Dan nodded. He watched Hermione walk to the front of the store.

Dan looked back to Draco, "Well nice not meeting you Draco." Dan nodded to Malfoy who nodded back. 'Doesn't seem like a bad character. No wonder Granger likes him.' Malfoy thought sadly. Nice. Dan was nice. Did he want to be nice too? But why would he want to do that? Being mean was so much easier and definately more fun.

Dan left Malfoy and followed Hermione to the registers. Left alone once again Draco felt both annoyed and disappointed in himself. He had not called Granger enough names. 'Where'd my instant insults go?' he thought angrily before leaving the store with nothing. He had no intention of being served by Granger or Dan for that matter. In fact what he needed most was to leave.

Making a mental note, not to go back to that grocery store again, he left quickly. He chanced a look over the registers, as he left, finding Granger instantly. He did not know why but she stood out from the rest of the girls on the registers. From that quick glance he learnt so much more of his arch enemies best friend.

She had changed. Not mentally. 'Well actually she probably has another few books memorised in that overly smart barin of her's.' he corrected himself. But she had definately changed physically. She had always been thin. She still was, there was just something...he did not know what...but it was there and it was attracting. Her hair had been straightened but he had noticed that change from their previous year at Hogwarts.

'I'll figure it out. It's not that I'm attracted to her, I'm just attracted to the fact that I can use her new change against her. Yeah that's right, that mudblood will pay. She hit me onto the ground for merlin's sake!" Draco thought angrily as he stormed down Diagon Alley in search of his father.

Father...how he hated his father. Lucius Malfoy the biggest bully in the playground. Yes, that was him. Voldemort's right handed man. The man many feared. He was rich which in turn made Draco rich. But had the mudblood been right? Did they really have dirty money?

'She's just trying to get to you. There's no such thing as dirty money. You either have it or you don't. In her case she doesn't and for that she is jealous.' Draco thought logically. He would not and nor would he ever believe something a dirty little mudblood said. He felt ashamed already for even contemplating it.

"I have to go back to that store. I have to find out everything she hates. This last year of Hogwarts will be hell for her." Draco muttered to himself, a crazy grin spreading on his face. Yes, his plan was perfect. The only problem was he did not know when her shifts were.

'But hang on...she's desperate for money. She'd be working there every night. Every night it is then. Starting from tomorrow...Granger will regret she ever took that stupid job.' he thought. He could not help but let out a small laugh aloud. He could not wait to put his plan into action. It was just too perfect.

A/N – How was that for a start? For those wondering I will still be completing 'Ship Of Dreams'. I just needed a little break and this idea for a story came to me one night while I was working. (Yes at a supermarkert while at the registers) This story is just my little way of sharing some of the things I have come across or had to deal with while working in a grocery store. Besides that as some of you may know I have a passion for Draco/Hermione romances and therefore this just had to be one! Well hope you all liked it! Love Sara4Harry xox)


	2. Chapter 2

The Checkout Chick

Chapter Two

So far the only person Hermione had encountered who went to Hogwarts was Draco Malfoy. This slightly surpised her as it was only two weeks until they all had to go back to school. She had thought the place would have been swarming with Hogwarts students.

The rest of the shift she had on the day she bumped into Malfoy had proved uneventful. She had served until her feet could no longer support her. Standing in the one position for three hours straight was severely painful. She used Essence of Murtlap to soothe her feet afterwards.

'Tomorrow it'll be different. You're going out with Ginny tomorrow. No hiding, no more hiding at home.' Hermione thought to herself angrily. She kept mentally slapping herself for agreeing to Ginny's nightclub proposition. Hermione and nightclub did not go together. It was like book and Ron or book and Harry. It was just...a no-no.

The sound of a phone ringing disrupted her. The witches and wizards who had built this shop had created a muggle phone system that allowed all the registers to have a phone they could use to call for things over the loud speaker, contact the service desk if they needed to and many other things. Hermione felt they were much more handier than anything the wizarding world could create.

She picked it up. "Hello?" Hermione answered as she fiddled with a pen in her hand. There were no customers in sight. It was late and most people were at home.

"Get back to work slacker." Dan said. Hermione looked to the Service Desk and saw Dan holding a phone to his ear. She poked her tongue at him. He looked about to see if anyone was looking then stuck up his middle finger in response and hung up the phone.

Hermione laughed. Dan was such a great person to work with. He could make anybody feel better after a hard day's work. Hermione guessed this was why he had been employed in the first place. Everybody thought working in a grocery store was an easy job but it was not. The amount of rude customers Hermione had come across amazed her.

"Excuse me? Are you going to serve me or will I just have to serve myself?" a person asked. Hermione snapped to attention without looking to see who they were.

She began scanning the items. "How are you?" she asked the standard question she had repeated a million times over. Chips, more chips, chocolate...

"Oh not too bad, unless you count the fact that I am being served by you. The Queen of all mudbloods." the person commented in a casual way.

Hermione had never looked up faster in her life. Her neck screamed out in protest with a crack but she ignored it. He was there yet again. Blonde hair, blue eyes, the hottest guy in their year as much as she hated to admit it. Draco Malfoy.

She let out a groan loud enough for him to hear. "You again is it? Thought you would have caught on yesterday that I didn't want you here." She scanned a few more items. Milk, cheese, yogurt...

"Well for your information, I don't take orders from anybody, least of all you." he sneered, leaning casually on the side of the bench where the conveyor belt ran.

"Oh really. Last time I saw, you took many orders from your father. Never heard you say no." she smirked, proud of her own insults. She had never known that she could come up with anything to fight Malfoy back with.

She looked up to find Malfoy glaring at her, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. She no longer looked calm but electric. She did not like it. It made him look much more evil. 'Evil little ferret.' she thought to herself.

"Listen here mudblood, I don't care how much you think you're better than me. The simple fact is that I AM better than you. The evidence is right here. I am the one with money buying things, you are the one slaving about trying to get money." Malfoy stated in a cocky fashion.

She ignored him. She placed the bags filled with his shopping onto a separate counter to her left. She turned to zap her least favourite food. Meat. She wrinkled her nose as she saw it. It was steak...but next to that was a whole chicken wrapped in plastic. It made her want to be sick. She hated animal slaughtering. It was a disgusting habit humans had and felt so angered by it. What gave anybody the right to kill innocent animals? It was just like making house elves slaves. It was wrong.

She tried as best as she could to pick it up without touching the part where the meat was. Although she knew it was wrapped she could not bare it. She used her fingers tips and slowly lifted up the steak and placed it into the bag. Next was the chicken. The chicken without the head. She could not put the chicken in with her fingertips.

Malfoy watched her with amusement. She was making a big fool out of herself. 'Scared of meat. Who would have thought the mudblood was scared of meat?' he thought with a laugh. He was smirking broadly. Her discomfort was childish.

When she still hesitated to pick it up and laughed, "It's pretty simple you know. You just put your hands on it." He grabbed her outstretched hands and placed it right on the chicken. Hermione's mouth dropped open in horror. Her insides were squirming. She was touching it! She was touching a headless chicken! "Pick it up..." he instructed her, forcing her to clasp her hand onto the chicken and lift it. It was all Malfoy's fault. He made her do this. But something stopped her from crying out. His soft palms were over her hands. They were so smooth. "Scan it and put it in the bag." he finished, having to lean over slightly so his hands could reach into the bag also. He let go and she let go. The chicken dropped into the bag.

Hermione glanced at her hands. She felt dirty. She felt so dirty! A chicken, a poor innocent chicken and she had just picked it up and sold it. The plastic wrap had protected her from actually touching the meat but still she felt as though she had.

She had never sold a chicken before. This happened to be her first one after a week of working and she felt cheated that it had to have been Malfoy that she had sold it to.

She looked up, Malfoy was smiling and shaking his head in disbelief at the same time. She was in the frame of mind of giving him a good lecture. One he would never forget. But the phone disrupted her again.

Hermione picked it up, her eyes firmly on Malfoy, her lips pursed angrily. He just continued to smirk at her. "Yes?" she snapped forcefully.

The person at the other end whistled, "Someone's in a bad mood."

Hermione smiled slightly, "Hi Dan. What do you want? I'm busy right now, serving someone."

Dan sniggered, "Well yeah I can see that. You can close up after you serve that customer. I'm going out for a pizza, wanna come?"

Hermione answered, "No, thanks. I have to go home. See you soon." She placed the phone back on the receiver.

She looked back at Malfoy who seemed to have lost some of happiness. "Man of the moment?" he asked, his tone was bitter.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You think Dan and I are going out?" Hermione gave a hollow laugh, "We're just friends. Although I'm sure that word you do not understand."

Malfoy glared at her, "Hurry up and get these things in bags. You have got to be the slowest checkout chick on the planet! I don't know how you got hired."

Hermione returned his glare and continued to scan his items. This time she went a little faster. She wanted him out of her sight. His presence both excited and annoyed her. She did not understand why, but him being there made her heart do back flips. She found their bickering funny and although it hurt to hear the mean things he said to her, it was always fun to give Malfoy back some of his own medicine.

"That comes to twenty five galleons and seven knuts." she said coldly.

He smirked at her, getting out his black wallet engraved with a silver snake. He opened it slowly. He had many cards but he took out one which was silver. It was while he did this that she noticed he had a photo. It was of a girl although she was too far away to see who it was. He snapped his wallet closed. Hermione sighed with disappointment. For some strange reason she had wanted so much to know who the picture Malfoy carried in his wallet was of.

"Any money out?" Hermione asked in the same cold tone she had used before.

"No." he answered, placing the card in the holder and pressing a few buttons. A receipt printed on a thin piece of parchment. She ripped it off and gave it to him.

"Have an unpleasant night." she said with a smirk.

He gave her a you-are-so-immature expression before snatching the receipt from her hands and saying back, "Right back at ya."

He collected his bags and walked off, sticking his nose into the air. Hermione could not resist her laughter. He was just so conceited and frustrating. She could not understand how he could have summed up the nerve to come back into that particular Grocery store.

'He knew I worked here. What would make him come back to the place I, his enemy, works. It's so stupid. It doesn't even make sense,' Hermione thought, rolling her eyes. She felt silly trying to figure out how Malfoy's mind worked.

One thing was for sure, he had seemed rather pleased when he had walked out of the shop. 'Something's up and I have to find out.' Hermione concluded.

A/N – This has got to be the weirdest story I have ever written. Well I'm having fun writing it. I hope you're having fun reading it. The hating meat part was a little bit of me I put into it. I absolutely hate picking it up and I really do only use my fingertips when I do. Do any of you work in a supermarket? Love to hear from you. Love always Draco4Hermione xox

P.S – This story is actually nearly finished on  so if you want to read ahead go there. Of course it is entirely up to you. For information purposes this story will be 31 chapters long. At there are 30 currently posted. My pen name there is Sara4Harry. Or easier still, visit my website and click on the banner for The Checkout Chick in My Stories.


	3. Chapter 3

The Checkout Chick

Chapter Three

Hermione woke up in her bed at her parent's house. The sun shone through the window. Her first thought was, 'No work today!' This immediately put her in a good mood. No work meant no Malfoy. Although she did miss out on seeing Dan but she would see him again soon. They usually had the same shift times anyway.

"Sweet heart! Ginny's here to see you!" her mother called. Hermione raced downstairs, ignoring the fact that she was still in her pyjamas. After all Ginny had seen her in her pj's before.

"Ginny!" Hermione cried with glee, giving her friend a big hug. Ginny smiled, "Just work up did you?"

Hermione shrugged, "Well it is holdays." Ginny nodded. Yes that was a pretty good excuse.

"So how's work? I still can't believe you got a job! Can you imagine Harry or Ron getting one?" Ginny laughed, as did Hermione, "It's not even imaginable."

Hermione nodded, "Yeah but I can picture them as aurors." Ginny sighed, "Yes, or they could become international quidditch stars. Now that would be cool."

Hermione smiled at that thought. For Harry it would be a dream come true. But as much as she hated to think it, she did not feel Ron would make a very good quidditch star. He was good, but he was not that good.

"So why are you here so early? I thought you said we were going to a night club." Hermione asked, a little confused. Perhaps she had heard Ginny wrong.

Ginny nodded, "We are going to a night club." Hermione raised an eyebrow and frowned, "Ginny, you go to night club's at night. That's the whole point of the name... 'night' club. Get it?"

It was Ginny's turn to give her friend a funny look, "I'm not stupid you know 'Mione." she rolled her eyes, "We're going to Diagon Alley to get our school things. Might as well get it over and done with right? Besides it gives me an excuse to get something for tonight. Mum still thinks I'm just sleeping over your house. Honestly Dad insisted that he come with me just to spend a night at a muggle's house but Mum managed to talk him out of it thank merlin."

Hermione laughed. She could definately picture Mr.Weasley doing that. "Well let's go then. Erm...but how are we going?"

Ginny took a small sealed container out of her pocket, "Floo Powder. Have a fireplace?"

Hermione nodded with a smile, "Come on. Well hang on I'll juts get changed then we'll go." It took only a few minutes to change into her clothes and they were in Diagon Alley before they knew it.

Hermione sighed as she looked at the crowded cobbled street. "I have spent way too much time here this holidays."

Ginny laughed, "You're too right. Well come on then, lets get this school stuff out of the way so we can have fun shopping!"

Hermione nodded. They went to the usual shops to get their school stuff. Hermione refused to get any new robes for school even though her current ones were short. It was her last year and she did not want to waste any money.

"You know I'm thinking we should have gone school shopping after we went clothes shopping." Ginny commented as they carted full bags of book and other items around.

Hermione sighed, "Here, let's just get them out of here. I'll send them back to my house. Disperta school bags to the Granger's house!" The bags disappeared and Ginny grinned broadly, "You're just too smart."

Hermione laughed and together they went to a shop named, 'Mystique'. Hermione had never been there but Ginny swore that it was a really good store.

Upon entering Hermione was taken aback. The walls were painted black with silver stars stuck onto them. She looked up to the roof finding a night sky filled with planets, stars and the moon. She guessed it had same enchantment as the roof of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The clothes were on racks and all seemed to glitter.

"Oh Hermione look at this! It's beautiful!" Ginny squeeled, holding up a pretty dark blue halter top with glitter round the bottom half. Hermione nodded, taking it into her hands to examine it closer. The material felt so light she barely realised it was there.

"It would look fantastic on you 'Mione. Why don't you get it? You could wear it tonight. I'll get this." Ginny said, holding up another piece of clothing in her hand. It was a mini red dress thing that fell to her knees in waves. It was one of those outfits that you wore jeans under. Hermione knew it would suit Ginny.

"Okay." Hermione answered and together they went to pay for their things. The witch serving them gave them a warm smile. The tops turned out to be a real bargain. Hermione's was only five galleons and Ginny's was six.

"Father, this is a girl's store." a menancing voice spoke through the calm tranquil music that filled the room. Hermione spun around to find Lucius and Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway. Draco was looking up at the roof. He had not noticed her prescence.

"Nonsense Draco. Look over there. Suits, girls do not wear suits. Besides, this store is one of the only ones in this wretched street that has label clothing. You want to look your finest don't you?" Lucius asked with a smirk.

His father moved towards the suits before noticing the other people in the store, which was only Ginny, Hermione and the sales woman. He stopped in his tracks. He remembered the girl holding the blue halter top from somewhere.

Draco who had been sneering at his father, noticed that his attention had been taken by something. He followed his father's line of sight and spotted Hermione.

His heart jumped into his throat as it did each time he saw her since the moment she had bumped into him in that Grocery Store. The light was dim in the room which made Hermione's hair shine more than it had ever done. Her eyes sparkled as much as her top did.

"Mudblood?" Lucius muttered under his breath finally remembering where he had seen her before. "I know you. You are the muggle friend of dear Potter. What would the magical world do without him?" Lucius sneered, obviously enjoying himself.

Hermione gave Lucius a deathly glare, "A question I ask myself every day." she answered in the same tone he had used with her. Draco remained the silent admirer. He did not know what to say. Yet again any insults he could have used against her had been wiped from his mind.

"You have a sharp tongue mudblood. I suggest you tame it before someone cuts it out." Lucius spat forcefully, his hand clutched tightly at his wand. Hermione also held her wand. If he tried anything she'd curse him.

Draco watched his father's malicious face. He noted how ugly Lucius Malfoy looked when he was angry. He looked back to Hermione. She was quite the opposite. Her anger created a cute blush in her cheeks which made her look ever more tempting. Suddenly he felt the need to talk to her. Even if he said something stupid and out of character. He could not understand his sudden change in feelings.

"Could we leave father?" Draco asked, "I can't shop in a place mudblood's shop. It just is not right." Draco commented to his father. Lucius would surely agree to this. He did not really mean what he asked. He just felt the need to get away from Granger before he did anything he would regret. They had been enemies for so long that even if his heart wanted to change their relationship it would not be possible.

Lucius smirked, "Quite right Draco. The very air in this room is contaminated by her." Hermione looked to Draco who could not help but give her an apologetic glance. He felt awful, so terribly awful. The sad look on her face wanted him to take evrything he had said against her in the past six years back.

'What on earth are you thinking?' Draco thought, infuriated with himself, 'Apologise? To a mudblood? This is getting out of hand. I have to keep away from her. Whta on earth happened to my plan? I think it's working against me! Damn it!'

Lucius turned sharply and walked out, Draco locked eyes with Hermione one last time before walking out also. As he left the shop, his heart began to beat normally once again. 'It was just the scent in that shop. Made your mind go funny.' he thought, 'Yeah that was it. The fumes.'

Hermione let out a breath she had been holding. Draco Malfoy in dim light was almost like seeing an angel. She had ben angry at Lucius but this anger did not surpass the crazy passion she had felt toward Draco. It had been like a passing cold. It was there one minute and gone the next. But no matter how much Hermione wanted to deny it, she could not. It had been there and that was a fact.

'If only I knew why.' Hermione thought sadly. She did not want to have a crush on someone as snobby and conceited as Draco Malfoy. She wanted to have a crush on someone like Dan. Yes, Dan was a cute, kind guy.

Ginny let out a small laugh. Hermione gave a her a confused look.. "What are you laughing at?" she asked.

Ginny shrugged, "You should have seen the sparks flying from your eyes and Draco Malfoy's! I was scared you were going to zap the place down. Honestly..."

Hermione gave her friend a disgusted look, "Sparks? Ginny are you sure you're not sick?" she placed a hand on Ginny's forehead, pretending to measure her temperature.

Ginny's slapped Hermione's hand away from her, laughing hard, "I can't believe it! You and Malfoy! Wait until Ron and Harry hear abou this!"

Hermione's jaw dropped, "No Gin, don't tell them anything. They'd kill me." Ginny's eyes went wide with shock, "So there IS something going on between you?"

Hermione felt like kicking herself. She had walked right into that one, "No I'm not. Just don't say anything like that to them 'cause you know what they'd do."

Ginny nodded but she could not help the feeling that she was being lied to. She knew what she saw and it was definately not nothing. It was there. It had been there. Sparks, sparks and more sparks. They paid for their things and left.

Later That Night

Hermione had been dancing for two hours straight. She loved dancing but her feet were getting very sore. "I have to sit down!" she yelled at the boy who she had been dancing with.

He nodded and went off to dance with Ginny whom many of the boys had taken to. She was simply a drop dead gorgeous red head and Hermione was slightly jealous of her friend's good looks. If only she was as pretty as Ginny...

"Is this seat taken?" a boy with ash brown hair asked, taking the seat beside her without waiting for an answer.

Hermione looked to him and gasped. "Dan! I never in a million years thought I'd see you here! Ha!" She gave him a hug which he returned happily.

He winked at her as he had done so many times before. Hermione felt her insides melt, his smile was so cute! She was disappointed by the fact that Draco Malfoy could make her heart do backflips and yet all Dan's smile could do was give her arms goosebumps.

"Wanna dance?" he asked her with his cute smile plastered on his face. Hermione shook her head, "My feet are hurting. Dancing too much tonight. How about we just sit here for a bit?" Dan shrugged, "Fine with me."

They sat there, silently for a minute before Dan started up conversation, "Have you ever been out with anyone?" She was surprised by the question. Dan was hardly ever straight forward.

"Um...well sort of once but it wasn't really well...it wasn't like a real date or anything." Hermione said, talking about Viktor Krum.

Dan nodded, "Okay." he seemed pleased about something. Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, "Just asking..." Hermione nodded, but he had more, "Would like to go out with me sometime?"

Hermione could hardly believe her ears. Dan was asking her out! Cute Dan, was asking HER, Hermione Granger, out on a date. It was too good to be true. "Oh I'd love to."

Dan grinned happily, "Great! So do you feel like dancing now?" Hermione laughed and nodded, her energy store had shot up when he had asked her out. She felt as though she could dance for the whole night.

They danced to some of the Werid Sister songs, one of them was slow one. Hermione enjoyed this the most as it gave her a chance to be closer to Dan.

'I am so lucky!' Hermione thought to herself, 'But why don't I feel that way?' she asked herself. Yes she was happy. She was extremely happy but she was not head over heels. In fact she didn't feel anything that people were supposed to feel when they loved someone.

At that moment something Ginny had said earlier came to mind, "You should have seen the sparks flying from your eyes and Draco Malfoy's!" Her voice faded. Hermione was scared. Sparks. Sparks was a symptom of love. Was she in love with Draco Malfoy? Her head was disgusted in herself but her heart was agreeing.

But being a girl who always listened to her mind instead of her heart, she ignored hearts desire. She forgot all thoughts of Draco Malfoy and instead concentrated on Dan's arms wrapped around her waist as they slow danced to a Wierd Sister song called, 'Denial'.

A/N – Yes, yes you all hate me now. Well if Hermione and Draco suddenly got together it wouldn't be a store now would it. But of course, there are love stories where they don't get together. Maybe this is one of them? Guess you'll just have to wait and see. Next chapter is a funny one and I'm guessing you'll like it. LoveDraco4Hermione xox

Hint: Next chapter is in the Grocery Store. Draco goes to Hermione's register with a whole trolley full of meat...


	4. Chapter 4

The Checkout Chick

Chapter Four

"Hi, how are you?" Hermione asked politely as she began to serve an elderly woman who was buying a lot of fruit and vegetables. Apart from meat, Hermione hated scanning the fruit and vegetables. Although it was not because she did not like them, it was because it took forver to type in the code and weigh them. Such a slow process that usually got both the customer and the Checkout operator fustrated.

Hermione heard the old woman mutter something as she piled the bags of fruit and vegetables into her trolley. Hermione's face went slightly pink. She knew the elderly woman was muttering something about her.

Hermione disliked people so impatient. It was not like it was her fault that she took so long with the codes. She could not possibly know all of them off by heart and she had to figure it out doing a handy magical spell she had come up with.

"That's ten galleons and five sickles." the elderly woman paid with cash. Hermione placed them in the till and the woman took off, muttering more things under her breath. Hermione gave her a dirty look although she knew she could not see her.

She glanced at the Service Desk. She spotted Dan serving somebody. He looked like he was concentrating hard. She smiled at him. He turned, feeling her eyes on him. He gave her a wink and a smile before returning his attention to the customer.

Hermione grinned broadly. She checked her watch. Only half an hour left for that shift and then she would be going on her first date with Dan. They were going out to dinner at a fancy restraunt open in Diagon Alley.

She heard the conveyor belt move and looked to see a pile of meat getting stacked onto it. She groaned quietly. She looked up to the custom and threw her head back when she saw who it was.

"Not you again! Don't you ever give up with whatever you're trying to do?" Hermione asked angrily as Draco Malfoy grinned at her.

"Malfoy's don't give up. Besides, this is so much fun." he continued to pile the meat on the belt. He had filled it already.

"Well aren't you going to start scanning? I have to put more on." He gave her his trademark smirk. She leaned over slightly to look at his trolley. It was full of meat. She felt like being sick. So many dead animals! So much meat and blood.

She glanced at the meat first up. It was the steaks. 'Good, I can do these ones. As long as there's no...'

"Chicken your favourite." Malfoy held up some chickens before placing them onto the steaks she had been about to scan.

Hermione let out a fustrated cry. She did not have to put up with Malfoy's taunting. He knew she hated meat and had purposefully filled a trolley with it to annoy her. This amazed her. He had gone to great lengths to make her job a living hell. Meat was not cheap either. But then again, he was rich and could afford to throw money around.

"Are you actually going to eat this meat Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a glare, "You'll get fat you know."

Draco gave a short laugh, "No I'm going to just throw it away. I don't eat meat very much." he shrugged, "Well come on."

Hermione's mouth was open in disgust. He was going to throw so much money away just so he could annoy her. "You should use your money on useful things. Like giving to a charity."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Now where would the fun be in that? Besides using it for this is useful. I get to piss you off and watch you face your worst fear." He laughed. His laugh caught Hermione's heart. It was a real laugh, not one of his sniggers. He was really laughing and really enjoying himself.

Hermione had to smile. This whole thing really was funny. Malfoy buying a trolley full of meat to annoy her. Draco watched her smile. He had made her smile! His heart jumped into his throat. 'Not again.' he thought. He found himself soaking in all her attractive qualities.

She reached out for the chicken and without his help she picked it up and scanned it and placed it in the bag. Proud of ehrself she went for the next one. Draco watched her without saying a thing. He was proud of her. He really was. She was facing her fear. He respected her. If only he could be more like her and face his worst fear...his father.

Just as she had finally started to overcome her fear, some of the blood from the liver in a bag squirted onto her shirt. She gasped, dropping the bag onto the ground. She had animal blood on her! She felt sick. She looked up at Draco who was staring at her, waiting for her reaction. Her sight went hazy and she began to see double.

Without thinking, his ran round to her side of the counter and caught her just as she collapsed. She felt so small in his arms. He looked around, what could he do now? Luckily, Dan had seen the whole episode and had come rushing to his girlfriend's side.

"She fainted, I did nothing." Draco said quickly and Dan nodded, "Yeah I know. Here give her to me. I'll put her in the back. She'll wake up soon."

Draco nodded hesitantly. He did not want to give Hermione to him. He felt unsure about Dan. He had seemed like a nice when he had met him but now...he didn't know. There was just something there. Something strangely like distrust.

He placed her in the arms of Dan who picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. Draco's heart sunk in his chest. So Hermione was with this Dan guy. He felt something evil crawl up inside him. It was dangerous, a very dangerous feeling. Jealousy...that was what it was. Jealousy.

"I'll serve you in a minute. Just wait here." Dan said, walking off with Hermione in his arms. Draco nodded, looking at all the meat on the belt sadly. He felt ashamed at himself. It was his fault that Hermione had collapsed. He should not have bought that liver. It was going too far.

'A few chickens would have done. Why did I have to get so much? Idiot!' he told himself off, leaning against the checkout.

Dan was back in one munite flat. "How is she?" Draco inquired. Dan gave him a small smile, "She'll be right."

He continued where Hermione left off. He was much faster at scanning things than Hermione was. 'She wasn't built for labour work.' Draco thought. He knew what he thought was right. She was so smart at school. Better than him in everything since first year. Even Potions.

"So are you two going out?" Draco asked, doing his very best to control his temper and his tone so that he would not sound jealous although he could not remember a time when he felt more out of control.

Dan grinned, "Yeah started going out yesterday. We were going to go out on our first date tonight. Guess that'll have to wait."

Draco nodded. He hated this Dan guy. He had not done anything to him. But he hated him. He hated him more than he hated Potter. What made Dan so special? Why did Hermione like him so much? He was nice, so what? What was so good about nice guys? Nothing!

"Good thing though." Dan commented, with a smirk so alike his own that it caught him in surprise.

"Good? How so?" Draco asked, confused to what he meant. As far as he was concerned, a girl passing out before a first date was not something 'good'.

"I had a date with Victoria, my girl friend of three years. Hot thing she it too. Long blonde hair, sexiest legs I've ever seen and eyes as green as a cat's. Sound hot?" Dan grinned, Draco's mouth dropped open and Dan thought it was because of his description of Victoria.

There it was! The thing that had made Draco feel uncomfortable about Dan's nice character. He knew it! He knew there was no such thing as the 'nice guy'. He was cheating on Hermione and she had no idea. He was torn between elation and hatred. Elation because he could tell her that her boyfriend was a cheat and that she would think better of him because he had told her. Hatred because of the obvious, she had fallen for a cheat. Someone who would have broken her heart without any care for her feelings.

"Don't tell Hermione though, yeah? She's a sweet thing and well...I couldn't help but ask her out. She told me she had only gone out with a guy once. I felt sorry for her and she was looking so hot. We were at a nightclub." Dan explained as though that his excuse made perfect sense.

Draco nodded, "I won't tell." he said aloud. 'Not...' he thought with a smile.

Dan grinned, "Thanks mate. Here's your meat. You can have it for free."

Draco shrugged. It made no difference to him. The meat was going straight into the bin anyway. He wheeled the trolley outside and began to pile the meat into a bin.

'How on earth am I going to tell her?' Draco thought. He knew she would not believe him at first, but maybe after awhile she would. 'I'd have to get her alone...Time to start planning.'

He threw the last bag of meat into the bin and left the trolley next to it as he walked down the cobbled path and disappeared to the Malfoy Manor as he did so.

A/N – How was that chapter? Hope you are all liking it. Does everybody hate Dan now? Poor Hermione with the meat though yeah? That was something I got from an experience I had. One day I'd been serving this person and yep, I got some of the blood on my shirt. Luckily I did not faint. But it was disgusting! Anyways, review if you have the time! Love Sara4Harry xox


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